Historically, 12-seeds in the Men’s NCAA tournament fare well against their 5-seed counterparts. It’s one of the more popular upset picks in brackets for diehard tournament fans and casual observers alike.
But when No. 5 Iowa (-9.5) took the court against No. 12 Richmond in Buffalo on Thursday afternoon, most expected the Hawkeyes to take care of business. Unlike many of their past predecessors, they would run roughshod on the Spiders. How could they not?
Iowa had won 12 of its last 14 games, including the Big Ten conference tournament title. The Hawkeyes had the potential National Player of the Year in Keegan Murray and one of the country’s top sharpshooters in Jordan Bohannon. Many — including this misguided writer — had them going to the Final Four as a dark horse.
